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.TH curl_easy_init 3 "4 March 2002" "libcurl 7.8.1" "libcurl Manual"
.SH NAME
curl_easy_init - Start a libcurl easy session
.SH SYNOPSIS
.nf
#include <curl/curl.h>

CURL *curl_easy_init();
.fi
.SH DESCRIPTION
This function must be the first function to call, and it returns a CURL easy
handle that you must use as input to other functions in the easy
interface. This call \fBMUST\fP have a corresponding call to
\fIcurl_easy_cleanup(3)\fP when the operation is complete.

If you did not already call \fIcurl_global_init(3)\fP, \fIcurl_easy_init(3)\fP
does it automatically. This may be lethal in multi-threaded cases, since
\fIcurl_global_init(3)\fP is not thread-safe, and it may result in resource
problems because there is no corresponding cleanup.

You are strongly advised to not allow this automatic behavior, by calling
\fIcurl_global_init(3)\fP yourself properly. See the description in
\fBlibcurl\fP(3) of global environment requirements for details of how to use
this function.
.SH EXAMPLE
.nf
CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();
if(curl) {
  CURLcode res;
  curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, "https://example.com");
  res = curl_easy_perform(curl);
  curl_easy_cleanup(curl);
}
.fi
.SH AVAILABILITY
Always
.SH RETURN VALUE
If this function returns NULL, something went wrong and you cannot use the
other curl functions.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.BR curl_easy_cleanup "(3), " curl_global_init "(3), " curl_easy_reset "(3), "
.BR curl_easy_perform "(3) "
